Mali Journal
February 07, 2011
My older daughter M is serving in the Peace Corps in Mali. She just got there.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
They have computers at the training center, which is apparently new, so I should be able to check my email daily or every other day until we start our home stay in the villages on Tuesday. Then we'll be three or four days in the village and three or four days here at the training center for 9 weeks. Because we do so much time in the villages for training, they cut the training period down and I'll go to my real village the second week of April. We're not in Bamako. We're 45 minutes outside. I am staying in a mud hut with two other female volunteers who are also doing small business development (L and J). The squat toilets are no worse than what I dealt with in China, and better in some cases. Here we are provided with meals and toilet paper and other things we'll have to supply for ourselves when we're at our own villages, but they are doing a good job of making it pretty comfy. It is basic, but we are provided for. I slept with a mosquito net for the first time last night. It wasn't bad. The beds are a little small, so I actually touch the net if I lay down flat, which I've been told isn't preferable, so when it comes time to buy my own bed I'll try and find the largest one possible or get one specially made in my village if it comes down to it. So far no one is sick or homesick, but it is only the first full day of orientation. We just placed our cellphone orders, so they should come tomorrow. When I get my phone I'll send you the number. The food has been ok so far. Looooooots of starch, not much in the way of vegetables. My first bucket bath went well. I'd kind of done it before in China, but now it is outdoors and every day. I'm sure I'll get more efficient at the process as I'm here longer. We're just getting orientation right now. We'll start real language training and bike training later in the week. We have a medical meeting in half an hour.
The skies are pretty clear of clouds but kind of hazy. There are plenty of trees and scrub. It is more like the bush than a desert here. There are mango trees, but the only fruit we've had so far has been plantains.
SUNDAY February 6
I don't get weekends off, but today is language classes and a cultural fair, so it should be a relatively fun day. We are going to practice bargaining and get to buy some local clothes.